Duterte has been seeking to strike a balance between Filipino claims to territory in the contested waters and his goal of better relations with Beijing, which claims the South China Sea nearly in its entirety. Philippines, which filed the arbitration case, requested China to accept the ruling a number of times but Beijing called the Philippines' claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea "baseless" and an "act of bad faith". "They consider us like brothers", Lopez said in a media interview about the revitalized trade and investment relations following the President's visit to Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the past week.
The move came as a surprise amid Duterte's continued pivot to closer ties with China, and ruffled feathers in Beijing, as expected.
"And in the coming Independence Day of ours [12 June], I might, I may go to Pag-asa island to raise the flag there. Even those (islands) that are vacant, let us habitate there".
A Filipino soldier patrols at the shore of Pagasa island (Thitu Island) in the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, Philippines.
Nawal added that the Emir of Qatar also paid the hotel expenses of President Duterte, his staff, cabinet, and PSG at the more upscale Four Seasons Hotel.
Wide manhunt on for the man who posted homicide video to Facebook
Alexis Lee, who saw Stephens last week, said his childhood friend always seemed respectful and got along with everybody. Stephens worked at Beech Brook, a social services agency in suburban Cleveland that deals with vulnerable young people.
His spokesmen and the military later insisted that he meant they should upgrade the facilities on about nine of the islands and outcroppings the Philippines already occupies.
But he said his setting aside of the territorial dispute opened the door to improved trade, investment and assistance with China.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte raises his fist as he takes the center stage during the meeting with the Filipino community at the Khalifa Sports City in Bahrain on April 14,2017.
Saudi Arabia has signed agreements for seven projects worth $469.34 million in Philippines, which can generate 15,950 jobs in several areas managed by the country's economic zone authority, said a report. He will finish his Gulf tour in Qatar.
In a related development, Duterte is set to welcome early Monday some 150 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were granted amnesty by the Saudi Arabian government. Those two countries are home to more than 300,000 Filipino workers, whose welfare Mr Duterte has made a focus of his trip.
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